The Mermaid's Singing - Val McDermid

From the beginning it's clear that this is a gritty, fast paced novel which will involve fully drawn and vulnerable characters, graphic descriptions of torture and a focus on the psychological elements of police procedure involved in solving the crime. The initial chapter is narrated by a murderer who explains their fascination with torture devices and describes murder as a 'strange and exotic drama'. The detachment of the narrator is chilling as they claim that they were compelled to commit murder the first time, but soon afterwards began thinking about how they could do it better next time. The quotations at the beginning of each chapter reinforce this idea ...  Read the complete review

~~~INTRODUCTION~~~ Back in July 2004, I had my first experience of Val McDermid when I read the book “A Distant Echo” I had been initially attracted by the fact that she is a fellow Scot and that she wrote in my favourite genre – that of the psychological thriller. Deciding that it was perhaps time for a break from Martina Cole, and time for something a little new and refreshing, I came across a copy of “The Mermaid Singing” in a charity shop whilst on holiday in September. I bought the book (in mint condition) for the princely sum of 75p, which is quite a bargain indeed. ~~~THE AUTHOR~~~ It still surprises me that I’d never discovered ...  Read the complete review

?You always remember the first time. Isn?t that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder?. So from the first chapter, we are thrown into the mind of the serial killer that Dr Tony Hill of the Home Office and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan are investigating. Set in Bradfield, four men have been found tortured and murdered, their bodies mutilated. Dr Hill is brought in as the clinical psychologist to compile a profile of the killer - but it?s clear from the start that he has sexual problems himself. Mysterious phone calls with a husky voiced woman ?talking dirty? anger and confuse him beyond belief. He feels himself attracted to ...  Read the complete review

A few years ago, I casually caught an episode of Wire In The Blood, having been a big fan of Robson Green when he was in Soldier, Soldier. I was curious to see him in another role, and it turned out to be in a genre that I am a huge fan of: crime thriller. As criminal psychologist Tony Hill, he was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and doing a little research, found that the series was based on the books by Val McDermid. Curious, I went and got one of her books, loved it, and then, a few books later, I started to read this one, The Mermaids Singing. I was excited to read this one, as it had been a while since I had read a Tony Hill book or seen an ...  Read the complete review

This is a good psychological thriller and an enjoyable read. The story is based in the northern fictional town of Bradfield and opens with the brutal murders of four young men whose deaths were rather grusome as they had been tortured and their bodies mutilated and the suspiscion is that these murders may be part of a homophobic killing spree. Tony Hill is a criminal pschologist and he is enlisted to help search for the serial killer as he has experience with such killers having studied those who are behind bars and is able to build profiles of them. Thi sees him working closely with the lead inspector on the case Detective Inspector Carol Jordan and soon they ...  Read the complete review